


I'd Give You Sunshine

by Vinvalen



Series: Discoveries [2]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Gen, Veld as Sephiroth's caretaker at Nibelheim
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2015-02-22
Packaged: 2018-03-14 13:59:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3413270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vinvalen/pseuds/Vinvalen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, even Veld needs a little help interpreting the clues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'd Give You Sunshine

Already dreading the thought of facing the mountain range’s notoriously intense winters, Veld wished he’d been more appreciative of Nibelheim’s short summer. Now it was mid autumn, and it had been raining almost nonstop for a week.

As if the dismal interior of the ShinRa mansion wasn’t depressing enough already, the gray days just accentuated the perpetual gloom until Veld’s seemingly bottomless supply of patience began to fray. It wasn’t until even little Sephiroth seemed to find no pleasure in his company that the Turk realized how irritable he’d actually become.

Rather than curling up on Veld’s lap in one of the chairs as the Turk read to him from whichever of Sephiroth’s books they’d chosen that day, the child instead sat in the center of the floor, looking up at the large windows as if he was waiting for the sun to come back.

If Veld had allowed it, Sephiroth would have remained in that same spot for hours, gazing first at the windows above, then at the floor before looking up again, his small face betraying his unhappiness.

Attempting to distract the child with other activities only seemed to make matters worse. Whenever Veld would pick him up from the floor, Sephiroth wailed, struggling and kicking, twisting to look back over his caretaker’s shoulder as if afraid the sun would come out again while he wasn’t there to see it.

“I’m sorry, little man,” he said sincerely, attempting to comfort his small charge. “I’d give you the sunshine if I could.”

The thing that disturbed the Turk most about Sephiroth’s actions as the rainy days continued was the way the child began to ignore the windows entirely and simply stared at the floor upon which he sat, as if wishing for the thin warmth the wood had once held. 

Even though Veld spread a triple thickness of blankets there for them both to sit upon and tried to entice Sephiroth with reading a new book to him, it seemed to make no difference in the child’s despondency. 

But at last the weather cleared and Veld anticipated starting the day enjoying his coffee and issues of the Midgar Times that had the grace of only being two weeks out of date, the sun once again streaming in over his shoulder. He smiled, thinking of how happy Sephiroth would be when he wakened to find that the sun had finally returned.

But as the Turk crossed the room toward his favorite chair, he happened to glance down. Then he stopped and simply stood in place, his attention fixed upon dull, drab surroundings that had become so familiar he almost didn’t notice them anymore.

Disappointed in himself for having missed something so obviously important -especially because he _was_ a Turk and trained to notice such things- Veld spent a short while simply thinking before setting his coffee down on a small, ornate table and reaching into his pocket to withdraw his PHS. He quickly punched in a number and five minutes spent explaining _why_ he wanted what he wanted finally gained Veld some satisfaction -despite being able to almost hear eyebrows being raised on the other end of the line- and he ended the call with a clearer conscience.

Then he glanced at his watch, laid the no longer important newspaper aside, sat down on the floor with his coffee… and waited. 

He had just finished the last swallow of it when he heard the patter of small feet -running ahead of his complaining nurse- accompanied by the welcome sound of Sephiroth’s happy shriek. Veld braced himself as Sephiroth launched headlong into his arms, catching the child and hugging him close. They sat there together for a long while simply looking down upon the riot of colors that surrounded them, created by the sun as it shone down through the huge stained glass windows above.

A week later it was raining again, but neither the happily chattering child nor his Turk caretaker seemed to notice. Instead, they sat together in Sephiroth’s favorite spot on the floor with a ream of paper and dozens of bright markers scattered around them as they painted patterns of color to hold in their hearts until the sun returned.


End file.
